Originally posted to Flickr by Batrak at http://flickr.com/photos/11672519@N02/462180774

Recently a reader (Wayne) asked if anyone could help him work out the riff to Tina Marie by Kenny Wayne Shephard. He had just figured out how to play the lick from the T-Bone Shuffle.

Well Wayne, here you go!

The song is a standard blues in the key of G. The lick is played in the 8th position, in other words your first finger should be on the 8th fret of the guitar. This is in the E Form of the minor pentatonic scale for all you CAGED theory afficianados, and you don’t have to move your hand to any the area of the fretboard.

The thing about a lick like this is that it is played over all the chords, there is very little if any variation. It’s pretty much just the same riff over and over again. Here is the basic lick:

|---11-10-8-8---------|
|---11-10-8-8-10-8----|
|----------------8----|
|---------------------|
|---------------------|
|---------------------|

I’m saying “pretty much” the same lick over and over again because he does mix it up a little. Sometimes I’m hearing the top string too:

|---11-10-8-8----8----|
|---11-10-8-8-10-8----|
|----------------8----|
|---------------------|
|---------------------|
|---------------------|

So there it is Wayne (and everyone else), another blues lick brought to you by 100blueslicks.com.

Kenny Wayne Shephard Lick – Tina Marie is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

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2. Guide Tone Blues Lick #2 – T-Bone Shuffle You may know the blues classic “T-Bone Shuffle” by one...
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Lets start off with the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI9ZO15kkJ4

And the tab:

|-5-7-5-7-5------------------3-5-3-5-3-----------------|
|-----------7-5-7---5------------------5-3-5---3-------|
|-----------------7---7-5--------------------5---5-3-4-|
|-------------------------7----------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------|

|-------------------------|
|--------------------3----|
|--------------------5----|
|-5-5-3-3-2-2-1-1-0--4----|
|--------------------5----|
|-------------------------|

One of the great things about playing the blues is that you can apply pretty much anything and everything you learn, and yes that means you don’t always have to take a pentatonic or blues scale approach. Using other sounds and different approaches will make your playing more interesting. The truth is that if all you play is the blues scale it gets pretty boring pretty fast, both for the player and the listener!

So with this lick, rather than over-analyze it, I see it in terms of the 5th string root barre chord shape. In other word the shape of an open A7 chord, but moved up on the neck to be a D7 chord, and a C7 chord.

The hardest part is probably the hammer-on, pull-off at the the start of the main lick. If you have trouble with that just go slow and steady. Work it with a metronome (you always use your metronome, don’t you?) and slowly increase speed.

In the video I mention that I really don’t know where this lick came from but now I do! I got the idea from something that the Master of the Telecaster, or the Iceman, blues great Albert Collins used to do.

It does seem that if you want to be a great blues guitar player it helps if you your first name is Albert or your last name is King, doesn’t it?

Anyhow, this lick isn’t really what the great Mr. Collins did, but it was inspired by a little trill he sometimes did on the first couple of strings that followed the chord shapes just like this lick does.

It just goes to show you that you can take a little something and change it, build on it, and make it your own to define your own blues sound, One thing that bugs the crap out of me these days is all those digital modeling amps and effects that have presets designed to make you sound like famous players or bands.

Don’t you want to find your own sound? I mean we already have one Eddie Van Halen…god knows we don’t need another!

It’s the same with the blues…copy anyone and everyone, but find your own way of doing things, find your own sound, make it your own.

Steal my licks. Change them. Make them your own. Make them better!

What stories do you have to tell? If you play the blues right you can’t hide…you will reveal your true self to anyone who is listening. If you are passionate it will show. If you are angry it will show, if you are sweet and kind it will show. If you’re a jerk it will show. So let it all hang out…don’t hold back!

Now, go forth and play the blues.

Blues Licks: Chord Shape Turnaround Lick is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

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But for now I want to focus on the notes on the top 3 strings of the 2nd pattern of the Minor Pentatonic scale. Here are those notes in the key of G:

|---------6-8-6--------------|
|-----6-8-------8-6----------|
|-5-7---------------7-5------|
|----------------------------|
|----------------------------|
|----------------------------|

Both Stevie Ray and Albert King spend a lot of time playing in that area. It’s amazing what you can do with just a handful of notes, especially when you squeeze and bend those strings! And in the blues the particular notes played carry no more weight than how much soul you put into them. Suffice it to say that both of these great blues guitarists played these few notes with a boatload of soul. Check out the video of Stormy Monday in my previous post: Blues Masters Albert King & Stevie Ray Vaughan In Session.

The first lick I would like to share with you is one that Albert King played all the time. Whenever I think of Albert King I think of this one. It s played at the end of a chorus, it takes the ear to the final V chord at the end of a 12 bar blues:

|--------------|
|---6----------|
|-7---7-5-7----|
|--------------|
|--------------|
|--------------|

(I demonstrate this staple of the Albert King blues sound, and everything else in this post, in the video at the end. Be sure to watch it!)

Next, I want to show you a couple great bends, because what is the blues guitar without bending strings? And Albert Kings blues licks, and SRV too, are filled with tasty bending, squeezing all kinds of emotion from their ‘gitfiddles,’ as Mr. King used to say.

Here are a couple variations on a theme:

|-8b10-6--------6-8b10-6------|
|--------8----8----------8----|
|-----------------------------|
|-----------------------------|
|-----------------------------|
|-----------------------------|

And here’s another cool lick I do in the video:

|---5----------|
|-----7-5-7----|
|-6------------|
|--------------|
|--------------|
|--------------|

There’s a lot of blues you can get out out just a few notes in one area of the guitar, and both Stevie Ray and the iconic Mr. King demonstrate that over and over in the In Session video. Take a look at the video below, and be sure to see my last post on the fantastic In Session DVD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UocYy_27crY

I look forward to your comments!

Blues Licks – Albert King Style! is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

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So take off yer shoes, grab yer axe, head out onto the porch and learn this lick. Then play around with it, make it yours. Get creative, experiment…play it forwards, backwards upside down. Use a pick, use your fingers, mix it up and change it around. Figure it out: What are you gonna do with it?

|---------------------------|
|-3--5--6--5--3--5--6--5----|
|-4--5--7--5--4--5--7--5----|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7dsTPWDUIM

The next awesome double stop blues lick is not a standard lick like the last one, but it is made of standard blues guitar sounds. Notice that I incorporate the first lick into it when I start using it as I would in a tune.

Once again, when you play the blues the idea is to tell your stories, so whenever you learn some new stuff it’s important to experiment and find ways to use it, change it, make it your own.

So forget about how nobody loves B.B. King but his mother, and she could be jivin’ too. Instead focus on how that women done you wrong, and how you felt when you woke up this mornin’.

So move on down to the country, get yourself a frigidaire, keep that woman in the house, get to learning this sweet blues lick.

|-6-3--------6-3----------|
|-5-3-5-3----5-3-5-3------|
|-----5-4--------5-3------|
|---------5----------5----|
|-------------------------|
|-------------------------|

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewQNY_8gX7E

Double Stop Blues Licks is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

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The “T-Bone Shuffle” is a great example of the use of guide tones in the blues. The tune consists of a repeating lick, that changes the guide tone depending on the chord.

Here is an excellent recording of the T-Bone Shuffle, from the “Showdown” album by 3 of the greatest blue guitarists to ever hold a guitar: Albert Collins, Robert Cray, and Johnny Copeland.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-nVl1RyFuA

“Showdown” is a great album. If you don’t have it you may want to check it out.

One thing that is cool about the T-Bone Shuffle lick is that it dances around the guide tone. This version of “T-Bone Shuffle” is in the key of B. It stays on the I chord for the first 4 bars. The main lick is played twice:

--------------------
--------------7-----
---7-8----3-8---9-8-
-9------9-----------
--------------------
--------------------

The guide tone is the 3rd of the B7 chord, D#, played on the 8th fret of the 3rd string.

When it goes to the IV chord the guide tone is the D natural, the 7th fret of the 3rd string:

--------------------
--------------7-----
---7-7----3-7---9-7-
-9------9-----------
--------------------
--------------------

When the tune gets to the V chord, F#7, the guide tone is the E note, the 9th fret of the 3rd string. That is the b7 of the F#7 chord:

--------------------
--------------7-----
---7-9----3-7---9-7-
-9------9-----------
--------------------
--------------------

Notice that at the end of that lick it goes back to the D note (7th fret, 3rd string) because the chord goes to E7, the IV chord.

So there you have it, a classic example of guide tones in the blues. If you don’t already know “The T-Bone Shuffle” you should learn it. This is a popular jam night tune, and it really should be in every blues guitar players repertoire. You never know when someone will call it. And, let’s face it, this is a great tune and a great blues lick.

Once you can play it, play around with it. Experiment with the lick, make changes to make it your own.

If you have any trouble understanding the theory in this post, be sure to get your free ebook, Blues Dues, (top of the sidebar on on any page of this site). I put all the basics about the blues in Blues Dues so you can get it one place.

Guide Tone Blues Lick #2 – T-Bone Shuffle is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

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And you will also see that it’s easy.

Before you go any further, download and print the pdf.

The basic repeating lick is very simple, only 4 notes, and it starts right out at the beginning with the 4th note landing right on the 1st beat of the first measure. That 4th note, a B natural, is the 3rd of the the G7 chord:

-3-----|-----
---6-3-|-----
-------|4----
-------|-----
-------|-----
-------|-----

Remember, guide tones are typically 3rds and 7ths. And the 3rd of a chord is especially important; for one thing it’s the 3rd that determines whether a chord is major or minor.

Also, notice that the B note is not in the Minor Pentatonic Scale, or the Blues Scale. If you are just noodling around with a scale pattern you would never hit this note.

When the chord changes to C7, the IV chord, in measure 2, the lick ends on the Bb note, which is the b7th of the C7 chord. And isn’t it cool that the guide tone for the IV chord is only 1/2 step lower than the guide tone for the I chord? That makes it a very smooth movement. It sounds great, and it really reflects the chord change.

-3-----|-----
---6-3-|-----
-------|3----
-------|-----
-------|-----
-------|-----

To keep things from getting boring I put a fancier lick at the end of the 4 bar phrase, and if you look closely you’ll notice that it ends on the B note, reflecting the chord which is a G7.

Looking at the second line, you’ll see that it’s exactly the same, except for the guide tones which always reflect the chord.

The 3rd 4 bar phrase, line 3, does the same thing again, and this time the lick ends on the C note, which is the b7th of D7, the V chord. And I thought it might be nice to end the whole thing by playing the D7 chord, which really would be a simple turnaround to bring us back to the top.

Here is what it sounds like:

Once you learn this 12 bar blues you should change it around, embellish it, make it your own, but always be sure that you play the appropriate guide tone.

Also, I challenge you to write out your own. If you can write the tab please send them to me. If I get enough of them maybe I’ll do a series on readers guide tone 12 bar blues!

Put Those Guide Tones In Your Blues Licks – Example #1 is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

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Even though the basic blues progression is only 3 chords, if you want your licks to sound sophisticated you really should be able to reflect the chords in your lead lines. The nice thing about the basic 12 bar blues is that there are only 3 chords, so there are not a lot of chords to worry about.

When you are playing the blues it’s really easy to play through the changes if you know something about guide tones. Guide tones, to put it simply, are the notes that guide your ear from one chord to the next. Usually guide tones are 3rds and 7ths.

Lets look at the change from a G7 chord to a C7 chord:

In the G7  (G B D F) the 3rd string note (4th fret, B note) is the 3rd. 3rds are extremely important in the character of any chord. Notice that that B note is not in the G Minor Pentatonic scale:

But if you play that note over the G7 chord, it will reflect the chord. Then when the chord changes to C7 you can move to the Bb, the 3rd fret of the 3rd string. That note is the b7 of the the C7 (C E G Bb), and it will reflect that chord. By incorporating that change into your lick you will be using the guide tones to play through the changes.

When you go to the D7 chord you should play the C note on the 5th fret of the 3rd string. That gives you 3 notes right next to each other:

|------------|
|------------|
|-3--4--5----|
|------------|
|------------|
|------------|

Paying attention to these 3 notes will make your blues licks sound more sophisticated. It’s that simple. Other than that all you have to do is play the Minor Pentatonic scale.

In fact, you can hear it when you play nothing but the appropriate of these 3 notes through a blues progression. Try it yourself: with no backing track, play only the appropriate note to the chord through a 12 bar blues progression. You will find that you can hear the chord changes very clearly.

Here are some ways to get this under your fingers:

1. Start a lick with the guide tone - Play a simple pentatonic lick, but start it with the guide tone appropriate to the chord.
2. End a lick with the guide tone - That’s right, do the same thing but end on the appropriate guide tone.
3. Incorporate the guide gone in the middle of a blues lick - A bit more difficult to master, but well worth it!

This little trick will bring your blues guitar playing to a new level of sophistication. It will have the listener thinking “Now that guy (or girl) can play the blues guitar!”

Stay tuned. I’ll be posting some licks that use this technique. Until then, shouldn’t you be practicing instead of surfing the web?

Blues Guitar Lesson: Using Guide Tones In Blues Licks is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

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Let’s say you’re at a blues jam session and the singer calls Wang Dang Doodle.

“What did he say about my wang?” you ask the bass player.

“Oh man,” the bass player says to to singer, “this guy don’t know Wang Dang Doodle! I guess we gotta play another slow blues.”

For shame! How can you say that you’re a bluesman when you don’t even know Wang Dang Doodle? Son, you gotta pay yer dues!

So here are 3 gotta know classic blues riffs if you wanna call yourself a blues guitarist.

(Of course there are lots more than 3, but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right?)

1. Wang Dang Doodle

I know you are aware that Koko Taylor was the Queen of the Blues. And Wang Dang Doodle was a signature song for her. Now you can hear it, and play it, in blues clubs around the world. This riff is as fun to play as it is to hear, all night long…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp5NIxWdUbI

On that recording they are tuned down a whole step, so it is is the key of D. If you want to sound just like that you will have to tune every string down also. Of course if you play it in standard tuning, which is fine, it will be in the key of E.

Here’s the tab:

|----------------------------|
|----------------------------|
|----------------------------|
|-----0---2-0----------------|
|-0h2---2-----2-----5--------|
|---------------3-3---3p0----|

The next time someone says something about yer wang, you will know what to do, won’t you?

And the next classic blues riff is…

2. Messin’ With The Kid

Buddy Guy and Junior Wells were a power team of bluesmen who gave us this gem of a blues standard. And later the Blues Brothers helped the white folks get hip to it too. This riff is burned into my brain, as I have played it so many times at oh so many blues jam sessions. Just don’t play it too fast…that kills the soul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXJ-YPKqguA

And here is how you play it, in the key of C:

|-8--6---------------------|
|-------8--6---------------|
|-------------8-7-5---5----|
|-------------------8------|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|

If you don’t know that slick blues riff, you don’t know nothin’!

And finally, the 3rd gotta know if yer gonna call yourself a blues guitarist blues riff is…

3. Mannish Boy

It doesn’t get more classic, or any cooler than this. Muddy Waters was the suavest son of gun that ever graced the bandstand. Hell, I’m glad he wasn’t around when I was wooin’ my wife…I never would have stood a chance.

Simple to play and steaming hot, you gotta know this riff. If you don’t you’d better to get your sorry behind into that woodshed and don’t come out ’til you got it!

Oh yeah!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5IOou6qN1o

It doesn’t get any easier than playing this one. Hell, you could do it after a few too many whiskeys at 4 in the mornin’. And by the way, it’s in the key of A.

|--------------|
|--------------|
|---7---5------|
|-7---7---7----|
|--------------|
|--------------|

Everything is going to be alright this morning. Especially if you got these riffs in your bag of blues tricks.

So go on now…learn em!

3 Classic Blues Riffs is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

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But there’s a whole long neck on your guitar, with lot’s of frets, and the truth is that wherever your hand is on the fretboard you have easy access to every note in over 2 octaves. That’s a lot of notes, and it’s everything you need to play some sweet blues.

So in this post I’m going to show you 3 cool licks in the D form of the minor pentatonic scale. Learn them, love them, make them your own and then store them away safely in your bag of blues licks tricks!

In case you don’t have the D form of the minor pentatonic scale under your fingers here it is:

If you don’t already know it be sure to learn it by heart and then practice it in all 12 keys.

These licks are in the key of G. Once you get them down you should practice them in all 12 keys. It’s also a great idea to learn them in all of the different CAGED patterns of the Minor Pentatonic scale, in differnet octaves in every area of the guitar fretboard. That’s the kind of practice that will really pay off, in fact it’s essential to truly master the guitar.

The first blues lick is very simple:

|-------6------|
|---6-8---8----|
|-7------------|
|--------------|
|--------------|
|--------------|

Take a listen:

The second lick starts with a full step bend:

|-8b10-6-8---6--------|
|----------8---8-8----|
|---------------------|
|---------------------|
|---------------------|
|---------------------|

Listen:

The third lick incorporates the 1st 2, but this time instead of bending I’m shifting up to play the high note. You can play it by bending like in the 2nd lick, and of course that will sound great.

|---------------6----------10-6-8---6--------|
|-----------6-8---8---------------8---8-8----|
|-----5-6-7----------------------------------|
|-5-8----------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------|

Here’s what this lick sounds like:

So there you have it, 3 cool blues licks in the D form of the Minor Pentatonic scale. Once you learn them be sure to play around with them. Change the rhythm, change a note or 2, expand on them, make them your blues licks. Enjoy!

3 Cool Blues Licks is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

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“I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees
Asked the Lord above, have mercy now, save poor Bob if you please”
-Robert Johnson

What Makes A Great Blues Guitar Solo?

The blues is about telling your stories. It’s about baring your soul, expressing who you are and where you’ve been.

Robert Johnson was sharing a very personal thing, he went to mouth of Hell, prayed for salvation, then gave up everything to play the blues.

But the best music is about tension and release. You have to bring the listener to that point of tension where they are glued to everything you do, and you have to reward them in the end. If you can do that, they will love you.

If you can’t bring them to that place in the first place you’ll lose them fast. They won’t pay attention.

If you can get them there, but not get them off, you’re just a tease. And they will hate you for it!

The great thing is that this tension and release is built into the 12 bar blues form. To play the blues well you need to understand the form of the blues. And there is no better way to understand the form of the blues than to study the masters.

So for this lesson I want to look at the classic “Cross Road Blues” by Robert Johnson.

12 Bar Blues

“Cross  Road Blues” is a standard 12 bar blues.

Of course that means that it consists of 12 measures.  But if you look closer, you will see that those 12 bars are divided into 4 bar phrases.  This is very important.

Let’s listen to the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd60nI4sa9A

The first 4 bar phrase contains the lyric

“I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees”

The melody of this lyric poses a musical question that is placed in that first 4 bar area. It is the 1st 4 bar phrase, and it is left open. If he stopped there it would feel incomplete.

The question is repeated in the 2nd 4 bar phrase. This builds tension, you can hardly wait to hear how it’s going to turn out.

“I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees”

Then, the 3rd 4 bar phrase finally has the answer:

“Asked the Lord above, have mercy now, save poor Bob if you please”

The musical question is answered, the tension is resolved. Now we can start the 12 bar cycle over and do it again.

Apply This Principal To Your Blues Licks

Get out some staff paper, or tab paper, and write some 12 bar blues licks that follow the form question…repeat question..answer. Yes, write them down…it will help you to really learn the principle and to remember what you came up with.

Then put on a play along, and play those suckers. How many can you come up with?

When you have a few you really like, practice developing them. Start with your original idea, change it a bit in the next chorus and so on. This is a great way to build a blues guitar solo!

Keep this idea in your head when you play the blues…it will help you to play musically, not just rip out a bunch of notes that don’t really speak to anyone.

Some Final Thoughts

Breathe. Put space in your solos. Too many guitarists never stop to take a breathe. It’s like a screaming child on an airplane. Don’t be one of those!

Listen to singers and other instruments. Miles Davis said that he learned more about soloing by listening to singers than anything else. Singing is all about phrasing…play like a singer and you will connect with your audience.

Guitarists have a tendency to put notes together in a way that lays out well on the guitar. Studying the lines of other instrumentalists helps you to think outside the box.

If you apply this idea to your blues, your licks will speak to your audience, guaranteed! Now, go PLAY THE BLUES!

Better Blues Licks: Question…Repeat…Answer is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

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To put the lick in context I play a chorus of the blues at the beginning of the video guitar lesson. I didn’t have anything planned beyond the initial lick. Also I slowed it down a bit and showed a couple closeups at the end. Let me know what you think. The great backup track is an mp3 from 50blues.

                       |3-| |-3-|             |--3--|      |--3--|
                  H    Q  E E E E   W   Q    +Q    +E  Q  +E   E E   W
                |-----------------|-3-|----------------------------|------|
                |-------------3-5-|---|-6b8--(6)r--(6)-3--(3)------|------|
                |---------3-4-----|---|------------------------3-4-|------|
                |-----------------|---|----------------------------|-5----|
                |-----------------|---|----------------------------|------|
                |-----------------|---|----------------------------|------|

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWIZ3gI2lHI

Blues Guitar Lick #2 – Slow Blues Intro – B.B. King Style is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.

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Hell, a lot of people might look at you funny anyway, but don’t worry about them. Just flash them a smile and say it with your guitar.

Of all the blues turnarounds this is probably the most standard, recognizable lick of them all. I can’t even imagine “Sweet Home Chicago” without it. It’s not exactly what Robert Johnson played, but it’s close enough.

Here is the video guitar lesson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHJ4A8IdQ-s

                            |-3-| |-3-| |-3-|   |3-| |3|
                         Q  E E E E E E E E E   Q  E Q E +Q.
                       |------4-----3-----2---|-0------2-(2)----|
                       |----------------------|--------0-(0)----|
                       |----4---4-3---3-2---2-|-1------2-(2)----|
                       |----------------------|--------1-(1)----|
                       |----------------------|----0-1-2-(2)----|
                       |----------------------|-----------------|

In part 2 of the lesson I go over a variation of the same thing. It’s a little more difficult, but I think it sounds really cool. Grab your guitar and take a look. It’s okay if you laugh at my goofy face on the frame YouTube set for the still, I can take it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSKI_ZqHRxE

                            |-3-| |-3-| |-3-|   |3| |3|
                         Q  E E E E E E E E E   Q E Q E +Q.
                       |----------------------|-------2-(2)----|
                       |------5-----5-----5---|-------0-(0)----|
                       |----4---4-3---3-2---2-|-1-----2-(2)----|
                       |----------------------|-------1-(1)----|
                       |----5-----4-----3-----|-2-0-1-2-(2)----|
                       |----------------------|----------------|

So this is the first lick of the website…only 99 more to go. Of course there’s a lot more than just licks coming on 100blueslicks.com, and there are going to be many more free video guitar lessons. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing.

And I look forward to your comments. Don’t hold back!

Blues Guitar Lick #1: The Essential Blues Turnaround is from 100 Blues Licks where you can get more free guitar blues guitar lessons, blues licks and more.